Advanced Contracts: Sales and Leasing

This course provides an accessible yet rigorous introduction to essential commercial concepts and to the art of statutory interpretation. Any student who hopes to practice business law should consider taking either this course or Advanced Contracts: Commercial Transactions. Either this course or Advanced Contracts: Commercial Transactions will also provide an excellent foundation for the Secured Transactions course. Students who do not plan to practice business law are likely to find the content of this course to be relevant and useful as well.

In this course, students extend their knowledge of contract law through an in-depth study of sales and leases of goods. The transactions studied in this course are the stuff of everyday life, yet they present many subtle and complex legal issues. The broad themes of this course may be familiar from the first-year Contracts course, however method and specific content of this course are quite different. Article 2 and Article 2A of the Uniform Commercial Code serve as the principal subjects of study, and students gain extensive training in reading, interpreting and applying statutory provisions. Advanced topics, addressed lightly if at all in first-year Contracts, are explored in their full glory here. Among other subjects, students study warranties, title and risk of loss in the domestic sale or lease of goods. Students also compare laws governing the international sale of goods, in particular the U.N. Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. There is a final examination in this course and students are graded on their performance as class experts.

(As the substantive content of this course duplicates that of Advanced Contracts: Commercial Transactions, students may choose to enroll in either course, but cannot take both of them.)

The American Bar Association accreditation standards require students to regularly attend the courses in which they are registered. Lewis & Clark expects students to attend classes regularly and to prepare for classes conscientiously. Specific attendance requirements may vary from course to course. Any attendance guidelines for a given class must be provided to students in a syllabus or other written document at the start of the semester. Sanctions (e.g., required withdrawal from the course, grade adjustment, and/or a failing grade) will be imposed for poor attendance.